Retired Fighter Pilot to Run NASA?

[IndianaGreen]

Source: Washington Post

Retired Fighter Pilot to Run NASA?

By Joel Achenbach

A highly decorated fighter pilot, almost completely unknown to the space community, has emerged as the top candidate to run NASA, two sources close to the Obama transition team said today.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jonathan Scott Gration is close to President-Elect Obama, having served as a military adviser to him during the campaign. Gration spoke at the Democratic National Convention. His selection is not a done deal, the sources said, but a formal announcement could be made before the inauguration. Gration's name first surfaced Tuesday night on the Web site Space.com.

What's certain is that Gration would give NASA a closer personal connection to the White House than it currently has under NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. Gration traveled with Obama on an extended senatorial trip to Africa and, despite having voted for George W. Bush in 2000, emerged a strong Obama advocate, at one point comparing him to Nelson Mandela.

"To see how Mandela saved his country by bridging racial, ethnic and in some cases cultural diversity, and turn a page from a turbulent time--I think that's sort of what the senator's doing," Gration told Newsweek in 2007.

Gration, who retired from the Air Force in 2006, may not know much about the space program, but he understands high-risk operations. His military biography states that he flew 274 missions over Iraq in the early 1990s and has more than 1,000 hours in combat and combat-related missions. He was in command of a unit at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia when terrorists struck in 1996. He was on duty at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Born in Africa where his parents were missionaries, Gration would likely be the first NASA administrator who speaks Swahili.


Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/14/retired_fighter_pilot_to_run_n.html?hpid=topnews

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Here is the space.com story referenced by WaPo:

Obama Asks Retired Air Force General to Run NASA
By Brian Berger and Becky Iannotta
Space News Staff Writers
posted: 13 January 2009
8:32 pm ET

WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has asked retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, one of his top foreign policy and military advisers during his campaign, to take the helm of NASA, according to a source informed of the selection.

An announcement is expected as soon as Wednesday. he would be the first NASA administrator in history to be announced before the inauguration of an incoming president.

Gration, a decorated fighter pilot who held senior policy positions in the military prior to his retirement, is a virtual unknown to the space community, but has some experience with NASA. In 1982, as a captain and fighter pilot instructor recently returned from Kenya, Gration spent a year as a White House Fellow working for NASA's deputy administrator at the time, Hans Mark.

Gration's lack of space experience should not preclude him from being qualified for the job, said John Logsdon, a space policy expert here.

"There are lots of NASA administrators who have come from other areas without a background in space," he said. "You want a guy who is a leader and can manage a large organization."

http://www.space.com/news/090113-obama-nasa-administrator.html

[Gman]

1. Griffin has reportedly been uncooperative with the transition team

he's hooked on his legacy being the new moonshot program. I believe he was hoping/expecting that Obama would reappoint him. Griffin is apparently a real jerk. He'll probably have a conniption fit when he finds he's out the door. I like it when RW'ers go nuts.

[Fearless]

2. There are also whispers about refederalizing the program.

[jmpnfool]

3. I've proudly worked at KSC for 22 years as a technician

on the shuttle program, and even though it is my job,I firmly believe in manned space flight. Lots of reasons, but for me, mostly because I think exploration is in our blood. But regardless, Griffin has been a terrible sales man for a pretty good step foward in space flight. I hope Gration agrees, Ares is probably the best way foward, lets see what happens.

[happyslug]

4. Bad Headline, my mind went to the most Famous Ex-Pilot in the news the lasf few years

And why would Obama appoint Duke Cunningham to anything except a new federal prison? Sorry "Ex-Fighter pilot" can mean anyone, including a GOP troll like Cunningham.

More on Duke Cunningham:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Cunningham